Kobra Paige, the vocalist and founder of Kobra And The Lotus, has checked in with the following:

"My name is Kobra Paige and I'm the founder of this band. Over the course of 13 years I've had the privilege of getting to know an amazing community. My experiences of building a band have been beautiful, difficult, painful, and incredible. There is one elephant in the room though...dunn, dunn, dunnn... metal elitism. It's ugly, vicious, unwarranted, vulgar, and unfortunately has been 20% of my experience within an 80% amazing, vibrant genre.

Trolling is a part of life. I'm no different from any artist in this matter. If you are publicly subjecting yourself to sharing an art form, its a known that it will definitely not be everyone's cup of tea. We're supposed to be individuals. BUT there is a smaller, more personalized sub-division and there in lies the holy grail of next level ignorance, the elitist. *Cue ominous horn section of doom*. We're all guilty of ignorance. Hell, I'll be lucky to learn lessons my whole, damn life!

Misguided hate however and personalized ambush towards unknowns because the music doesn't suit your, I repeat 'your' idea of metal, makes me sad... for you. News flash. No one fits in a box and no one is normal. If anyone thinks they're so outside a box that they aren't 'one with the normal people,' you're just fooling yourself. We're all insecure weirdos trying to find our way on this ball of glorious dust.

This video was candid, it's not perfect. Those that know me, know I like to keep it as authentic as I'm capable of. I'm not the most well spoken here and I've left a lot out, but I believe the point can be grasped. I've seen people in my genre talk about trolls, I haven't seen anyone touch on the specifics of metal elitism. So, for my up and coming artists trying to carve their path, please know you aren't alone! As long as you're not hurting anyone, you keep charging on. To everyone who has supported me over the last decade, shared their lives, energy, challenges, and joys with me, I owe you everything. You're my deepest inspiration for joy. Thank you forever. To the human who purchased the Metal Elitist In A Box Kit, I have bigger balls then you, suck my love. You need it the most."